Star power” is so useless. The Raptors have always drawn pretty well, despite typically mediocre rosters. Marketable stars are good for the bottom line because they can draw the attention of the casual fan. But winning does that far better, and a team paying Rudy Gay $20 million repeatedly is going to have trouble building a winning team. That desperately needed “star power” isn’t going to get the Raptors anywhere in the long run unless Gay massively improves or Colangelo pulls a couple of rabbits out of his Fedora.

The salary cap is real. The Raptors’ owners aren’t going to be paying the luxury tax. Figure that during Gay’s extended deal the luxury tax threshold will climb up to $75 million. If Gay signs for $20 million in the extra two years, matching his 2014-15 salary, he’ll be soaking up more than a quarter of the payroll. The other $55 million Colangelo has to play with needs to account for four starters, seven rotation players and 11 roster spots. That is a totally unnecessary hurdle to overcome, especially considering Gay has never and will possibly never be even an All-Star.

To make it work well enough for the Raptors to be a truly winning team — a legitimate competitor in the East — Colangelo would need to ace the draft and find great value in free agency and trades. Does anyone count on Colangelo doing that based on recent history?